Friday, 24 February 2012

Peeping Tom...again...

Today, I invite you to another one of our many pretty neighbouring villages, where my camera and I played a rather awkward Peeping Tom duo the other day. It does feel a little intrusive taking photos of other people's houses, even if it is just from the road, but how can one resist when they look like this???

This gorgeous farm made me want to knock on the door and ask if I could play on the hay bales (rolls) for a while, but I stopped myself at the last minute. After all, THAT might just be seen as more than a little intrusive...

Now, there are some stylish rain water-collecting barrels!

See the dog basking in the sun on the window seat? That's where I would like to be!

Monday, 20 February 2012

Colour cravings, anyone...?

Well, that makes two of us!

So, sticking my tongue out to the chilly wind, I today "recycled" a few tulips that were on their last legs, for a little colour therapy by the wall at the very back of our garden. In the wind, it was touch and go if the petals were going to stick to their day job long enough to let me play, and later, when I was carrying my "toys" indoors again, these pink princesses bowed one last time and then spread their glory all over the ground...

I have lived in the UK for over six years now, but my affection for

the old stone walls in this country has not subsided.

Not. One. Little. Bit.

And as a true quality of play, the imagination is allowed to run wild...

So what if a small green cabbage was not meant for this...

So what if it is perhaps rather more bizarre than beautiful...

Tickling the creativity for a brief but blissful moment, and aaaaah -

- my smile is instantly a little broader and more sparkling than it was a moment ago!

So, today's conclusions?

1. Allowing yourself to decorate in less than conventional ways can put a smile on your face - HEALTHY...

2. I have said it before and I will say it again: Playing with your food is a GOOD thing...

3. The wind did indeed play a February tune, but with a promise of the main act,

The Spring Overture, being only moments away...HOPE

4. A purple shawl that in real life matched the tulips perfectly can indeed look very different

in a photo...! Hmmm, I think I will have to stick to the "so what"...here too!

Thank you so much for all your kind words and anniversary greetings after my last blog post!

A warm HELLO to my readers who have been here for a while,

and a special HI THERE to all of you who visit The Swenglish Home for the first time.

A WAVE and a WINK to my new followers,

and a HELLO, HELLO, HELLO to all of you anonymous readers - I am happy to see you all here!

Saturday, 18 February 2012

One step behind...

Dear, oh dear... sometimes the wheels spin so fast one forgets all sorts of things...

...like the second anniversary of my blog! A week ago, it was two years ago that my blog took its first stumbling little baby steps, and little did I know that two years later, I would have enjoyed the most amazing experience being part of such a warm-hearted community! So many smiles, so many encounters - even if many only virtual - with lovely, lovely people, whom I feel very grateful to have met.

But this journey has not only been about virtual friendships. Some blog friends I have had the delight to also meet in the flesh, so to speak, and last weekend one of my very cherished blog sisters visited the Swenglish Home again. Charlotte, with the inspiring blog Trädgårdsflow (Garden Flow) ended a UK business trip with a day here, and you can imagine the rattling sound of our thoughts, ideas and giggles flying back and forth between us. Think squash game, but without the ferocity behind the serve...

We took a little stroll through Castle Combe...

...where the snow still lined the road of these two love birds

(unknown to me, but my lens caught them showered with sun light and couldn't resist)...

Imagine my delighted surprise when on Monday we woke up to a completely snow-free world,

and not only that, but one where GREEN seems to have been set as the new trend.... Yes!

Today, the spring-dizzy birds are singing as if their life depended on it, and when I saw these

lovely snow drops on the side of the road, I let out an equally spring-effervescent tune.

***

As a special treat for my boys who are on half-term school holiday this week, I took them for a scrumptious lunch at our favourite sushi restaurant in Bath (Yen Sushi). This little coincidental leek heart in my Miso soup brought a smile to my lips that lasted long into the afternoon. For once, I also happened to have my camera handy, and there it is, ladies and gents, evidence that we only have to open our senses to the small signs around us, to see that there is love in the world, sometimes even in your lunch!

Soooo, last, but not least... a Valentine greeting a little late...

This little heart is for you, for being the lovely readers that you are! :

Friday, 10 February 2012

The snow that fell last week here in the south of England nearly put a stop to my work trip to Sweden, with a large number of flights cancelled from Heathrow last Sunday...

However, I made it both there and back, but I had only been back for a day,

when again I woke up today to a world covered in a fluffy white blanket...

So, true to my conviction that one can lure spring out of its hiding place if one only tries hard enough, using floral bribes and bulb reminders of how spring is really done, I confess to having done a rather desperate raid of the garden centre shelves yesterday...

And what better box to fill with Muscari/grape hyacinths, than this lovely,

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Spring on my mind...

Yes, with spring on my mind and in my step, my mission this morning was to treat the Swenglish house to some tulips, and of course I had my favourite tulip colour in mind: deep purple/magenta. Imagine my upside down smile when I realized that the shop only had yellow and red ones to offer... Not seeing a tulip-less day as an option, especially since these were to be the first of the season (!), I had to think outside of the box, call out to all the flexibility this Swenglish head could muster...

And with a bunch of squeaky fresh friends, I left to go home to play...

Mixing these two colours is a rather daring and unusual adventure for my otherwise so one-tone-themed mind, and I do confess to a purple longing still humming inside, but for now, these colourful little heads will serve as reminders that spring will soon be here and my beloved flower-picking season not far behind...

My head is bulging and brimming with ideas for decorative symphonies, but having just returned from a work trip to the US, and with another to Sweden in a few days, I will have to practise a -to me- rather alien concept: patience... Ugh, not something I will ever win awards for, but nevertheless a necessary mantra...

And to all of you lovely readers out there who so patiently wait for my new blog posts, to you who send me the sweetest comments and incredibly kind emails, a warm thank you and a squeaky bunch of tulips to each and every one of you!

Click on the image to visit my Interior Styling & Photography website

Welcome to my blog, where I hope to share a few glimpses of interior and garden decorating ideas and of the life of a Swede in the UK. Unable and unwilling to stick to one style, my house hosts a mix of Swedish-Danish-French country style, with a hint of New England and a whiff of the Orient. I tend to surround myself with pale, calming colours, but sometimes also flirt with a more spicy palette. With inspiration from nature, recycled items and a dose of cheeky playfulness, I try to see beauty in the little things and items that may at first appear scruffy and 'past their best'. I hope you may find some inspiration here. Välkomna!

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are my own, so please ask if you would like to borrow them, and always state the source.

Some of my photos from the Swenglish Home featured in Franciska Munck Johansen's book...

Out now - Click on the image to see where it is sold

Some of my photos in Franciska Munck Johansen's Christmas book......

Out in November 2012

Our home featured in...

April issue 2012

Our home featured in German magazine Landhaus...

July/August issue 2012

Our home featured in...

Hungarian Interior Magazin Otthon, 2013/06

Some of my photos in ...

Norwegian magazine Vakre Hjem, March 2011

Some of my ideas and photos in...

Hungarian magazine A Mi Otthonunk, Dec 2011

Some of my photos, texts and ideas in...

Wiltshire Magazine April/May 2012

Some of my work published in...

Wedding Flowers Magazine July/August 2012

Some of my work published in...

Good Homes Magazine, February 2013

The Swenglish Home is a member of...

About me

I am a forty-something Swede and I live with my familyin an 18th-century cottage in a small hamlet outside Bath in the UK. I previously lived in an early Victorian house nearby, the interior of which is the one featured here during the first four years of the Swenglish Home blog (Feb 2010 - Feb 2014). When I am not busy picking flowers by the road side or plotting a new interior project, I work as a university lecturer and consultant in Intercultural Communication.

For my work as a Communication Consultant and University lecturer, see my website: